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I know he's the Beast of New York.
But why am I suddenly so foolishly tempted to tell him he's all bark and no bite?
MANNERS MAKETH A MAN.
It was a cliché for most, but never for the Marchettis. Everyone in their world knew this, but what Lorenzo did not expect was for their courtesy to extend even to someone like him.
"Thank you for making good on your promise, Lorenzo." The matriarch was the first to address his presence."May I introduce you to the rest of my family?" Her voice alone was a masterclass in the art of psychological warfare. It was soft and elegant but underscored at the same time by steely authority.
She gestured to the pair that stood closest to her. "This is Cesare and his wife Penelope."
The second-born, Lorenzo thought as he shook hands with the couple, and his once-missing heiress bride. It wouldn't be an exaggeration to say that Cesare's earlier days of violence were almost at par with the urban legends that people enjoyed spreading about him.
Potenziana walked her to the next couple, and they, too, shook hands with him.
"Massimo and Ysabel."
The charmer of the famiglia, Lorenzo recalled, but one who had also scandalously swapped one twin for another as his bride.
"Cattleya, you already know, and of course Ezio."
Lorenzo had attended Ezio's wedding to Potenziana's then-secretary two years ago. It was on that day he had his first glimpse of Gazelle, but as far as he knew, she hadn't even been aware of his presence. He had only stayed around long enough to sign their own wedding contract.
"And finally, Sarica."
The only one in the family who didn't get the memo on the dress code, Lorenzo observed. Her dress was not only a vibrant shade of red, but it was also short enough that he was certain it would have the famously conservative Giancarlo roll in his grave.
But it wouldn't.
Since he, too, believed that the eldest Marchetti heir was far from dead.
With the introductions properly concluded, attention swiftly turned to more important matters, and Lorenzo remained on his feet as he listened in quiet silence.
The Marchettis were being attacked from every side, but this came as no surprise to anyone in the room.
It was simply how things worked in their world when one smelled blood.
"I shall remain in Boston with Sarica," Potenziana declared. "Ezio and Cattleya, too. Among the four of us..." A chilling smile touched the older woman's lips. "We'll see who's foolish enough to come and try testing us."
"We will take the twins to La Torre dei Mostri and set things up in Providence," Cesare laid out. "The Pettinos and Drake Morris have agreed to meet with us there."
Drake Morris was the only FBI authority that famiglie trusted, and only because he was married to Kayra Pettinos, a mafia princess who was also an assassin in her own right. Or at least she used to be.
"Ysabel and I will head to Miami," Massimo murmured. "We will be working closely with Reid Chalkias."
The name signified Sicilian mafia royalty. It was definitely an alliance worth pursuing.
All eyes turned to him then, but it was only his wife's gaze that disconcerted him.
Would he ever get used to this?
The trust in her eyes was implicit, and it affected Lorenzo in ways that he could not even comprehend.
"Lorenzo will take Gazelle back to New York," Potenziana stated. "He will keep her safe while she continues with her studies."
It was Lorenzo's first time to hear what Potenzia required from him. The only thing she had been willing to divulge prior to her visit was that Gazelle would be his sole responsibility.
And now that he had heard where the other Marchettis had been assigned to, Lorenzo could see right away what her strategy was.
